Which cafe in Paris is great in atmophere and has a good menu and cheapish?

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Rillifane

Amber is absolutely right. Away from the tourist areas even the simpliest cafe will have its own charm.

As to prices, you should understand that the French cafe is a place people hang out and use as an extension of their home. You can sit for hours with just a single cup of coffee and no one will harrass you to buy something else or move on. A cafe that brings you a check before you ask for one is a tourist joint.

However, that also means that the cafe prices its items to reflect the fact that customers may stay for hours nursing one drink.

There will be different prices depending on whether you are standing at the bar (le zinc in French), are at an inside table, or in a sidewalk table. By law, these different prices must be posted and prominently displayed. The cheapest price will be for standing at the bar. If you just want a quick cup of coffee or glass of wine this may be the place to get it. (Do NOT, by the way, buy a drink at the bar and take it to a table. That is cheating).

Even in the central arrondissments, all of which are heavily patronized by tourists, there are plenty of cafes worth patronizing. Two I often go to, because they are close to the hotel I always stay at are Le Conti at 1 rue de Buci and Le Buci at 52, rue Dauphine. Both are very friendly and moderately priced.

Here are some little videos showing each:

Le Buci: http://www.paris-zoom.com/place.asp?P=Le+Buci&H=video#VIDEO

Le Conti: http://www.paris-zoom.com/place.asp?P=Le+Conti&H=video#VIDEO

The Conti's owner also has absolutely the cutest dog in Paris. He (the dog) roams the place and patrols the sidewalk with such a serious expression he's just a delight to sit and watch.

margaritalapicola

not sure cheap

john k

Restaurant Chartiers , 7 Faubourg-Montmarte, Paris

If you decide to spend your next holiday in Paris, and after a day's sightseeing you realize that you are starving and yearning for a traditional French dining experience, there is only one thing to do: Walk along Rue Montmartre and enter "Chez Chartiers."

Inside this elegant restaurant you will have the impression that you have arrived back to the nineteenth century: waiters in black and white uniforms and in big white aprons, a two-story high ceiling, a multitude of long wooden tables, huge mirrors on walls trimmed in Baroque detail. The restaurant is rarely visited without the tables full of other diners. If this is not enough indication, the long queues outside the restaurant's front will tell
you of its popularity with both locals and tourists.

As for the dining itself, you can choose a menu (15 â€“ 20 euro)
recommended by the restaurant or choose your own, available a la carte. The main course selections are rather simple yet elegant, such as "steak au poivre" (peppersteak) or "poulet au champignon" (chicken with mushroom sauce). Common side items include fries, roasted potatoes or vegetables.
Pre-dinner appetizers include typical French plates such as mixed salads, mussels, and buttered shrimp.

Diners can designers their own four, five or six course meal at a very attractive price of 15 to 25 euros per person. This price would include a delightful table wine of the restaurant (vin de la maison), either red or white. A couple dining at Chez Chartiers can dine with dessert included for about 50 euros, tip included.

As a souvenir from Paris, take your white paper tablecloth with you at the end of the meal. This cloth is what the waiter uses to record the price of your dinner.

Kermadec

Definitely, stay far away from tourist areas, and you will find cafe with great atmosphere, and not too expensive.

Blu

I like Rillifane's writeup and gave it a thumbs up. I would add that we rent apartments in the Left Bank for a week. We stay between the Blvd. St. Germain and Blvd. Montparnasse. This is the district around the department store Bon Marche and the church called St. Sulplice. There are hundreds of cute little places at reasonable prices. We work hard at staying out of the known tourist areas like the student quarter at Blvd. St. Michel.

amber

Stay away from tourist areas and you will find that 99% of paris cafes have great atmosphere, terrific menus and good prices. Just stay away from the tourists and don't be afraid to go into a cafe without an english menu on the window.

Sailor

cafÃ© le dauphin ( the dolphin), about two blocks from le louvre.

APK

I found that all restaurants were great in Paris -get off the beaten track and you can't go wrong.

davidc

MacDonalds

naughty boy

Ä± hope terrorists kill you in paris!!!

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